A New Dress

I have been wanting to post about my new dress. I have been stalking eShakti.com for a few close to a year now, but did not make a purchase. First it was because I was pregnant with Benedict, then the sale of our house fell through, then we sold the house, but I was dealing with post-pregnancy body issues and finally, when things seemed to even out, I just felt guilty about purchasing an article of clothing which cost more than $10, so I put it off.

I really liked the things I saw at eShakti, party because there were many classic items, but also because you could customize your dress for a mere $7.50. Pick out a dress then send them your measurements, the length you want,  how tall you are, the sleeve type and neckline type and they will make your dress for you. All for $7.50, plus the cost of the dress. This was key for me, as dressing modestly is very important. I am also plus sized (there I said it) and have what I would say is a strange body shape, so clothes I buy to fit me around the middle just hang and droop around my bustline and neck area.

A few weeks ago, I was stalking around on the site again and found their overstock section with a dress my size, so I sent Joshua a message and asked him what he thought. He gave the go ahead*, so I started to order it, until I discovered that when you sign up for an account, you get a $20 gift certificate toward your first purchase. Well, heck with that, I decided to order a dress and have it customized (free with your first dress!)

Altered with 3/4 length sleeves and mid calf length skirt. (picture from eShakti.com)

 

I ordered my dress on 23 June, in the evening and it arrived on 5 July, pretty darn good turn around, if you ask me. It would  have arrived on the 4th if it weren’t a holiday.When my dress arrived, we were eating dinner, so I set the box aside and managed to control the impulse to run and open it until after dinner was cleaned up, prayers were said and the kids were in bed.

When I opened the box, I was not disappointed. The dress was beautiful. The fabric was a nice weight, the embroidery was done by hand, the seems were well put together and the customizations were done exactly as I requested. After the inspection stage,  I moved on to the try on stage. Wow. Just wow. I wish I had a picture to share with you all, as I did have Joshua take a few, but I am waiting for the new hard drive to arrive still, so you will have to wait. Also, those pictures were taken at 930 in the evening, with bad lighting and my hair was awful. But I will tell you, I told Joshua that eShakti would be my go to place for dresses.

I woke up the next morning and was checking my email from my phone, while in bed, I saw that I had received another $20 gift certificate. I nudged a half awake Joshua and said “It’s like drugs, drugs I tell you!”. They are trying to get me in with their $20 gift certificates and well, it worked. I had another dress picked out, so I figured I would use it to buy that dress.

Altered but adding elbow length sleeves and mid calf length skirt (picture from eShakti.com)

 

In the mean time, I had emailed the nice lady at eShakti who was keeping me posted on the shipping of the first dress to let her know it had arrived and that I really liked it. In turn, she hooked me up with another gift certificate for another $20 off. Awesome. I soon discovered that the gift certificates could not be used together, so that meant another dress. Oh, darn.

Altered with elbow length sleeves and mid calf skirt (picture from eShakti.com)

 

 

And, no, just so you know, I didn’t just buy the dresses because they were sending me these gift certificates. I had been in the market for some new dresses. Plus, we are heading to a big shin-dig wedding in a month, and a new dress would be nice for that too. Now, I just have to decide which one to wear.

I promise to post pictures as soon as I get the dresses and the new hard drive is installed!

 

*no, Joshua does not have to give me permission to buy things, but sometimes he does encourage me to do so or nudges me to buy something for myself.

Filed under: General Stuff, Modesty

On Veiling

Girl in a Mantilla Seville" - John Frederick Lewis 1833

I veil as a sign of modesty, humility and love for our Lord.

Yes, I wear a mantilla anytime I attend Mass or am fortunate enough to spend time before our Eucharistic Lord in adoration. I have owed one for six years, but have not worn it for a few reasons, mainly because I was afraid that I would cause a problem within the parish or give the impression that I was trying to be, or thought I was,  “holier” than those around me. I assure you, I do not think I am holier than those around me.

When we moved to The Valley of Augustus’ City, I decided to veil again. I could no longer cause problems by veiling, as we were not prominent members of a somewhat liberal parish. I put my veil back on during the move down here and have not looked back.

The first Sunday was easy, we attended mass at the Chapel of Divine Mercy, where many of the women wear veils, so I did not stick out like a sore thumb. The next Sunday was not so easy, as we were new to the parish, I was heavy with child and we had three other children in tow, a recipe for people staring to begin with, add a mantilla and I could feel the stares from those around us.

When we decided to attend Mass at the parish we now are happy to call “our parish”, I was again uncertain about veiling and getting the stares. To my complete surprise, there were three other women wearing veils that day, three! I said a quick prayer of thanksgiving as I bobby pinned my veil in place.

I, surprisingly, have not had one person, at any parish we have attended and I have veiled, ask me why I do it.  Here are some links regarding veiling and why it is no longer practiced in most parishes, but why it is something that can, and maybe should, be practiced .

Head Coverings in Church – EWTN

Will you mantilla with me? – Full of good information about veiling

Modesty Veils – More thoughts about modesty and veiling.

1 Corinthians 11: 1-16 – From  usccb.org

Filed under: Modesty

From the cnn.com article http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/01/22/virginity.value/index.html

“A recent study in the journal Pediatrics showed that religious teens who take virginity pledges are as likely to have sex before marriage as their religious peers, and less likely to use condoms or birth control when they become sexually active.”

In an early blog post, I mentioned that we tell kids the reasons to wait for marriage then send them out into an oversexed world. Of course, it doesn’t help that often times youth put themselves in to a position where they “get on the bus” and there aren’t any stops between the bus stop and “the end of the line” (being sex). And that bus stop is  fine line. A young man or woman may have all the plans in the world to wait but putting on the breaks once the bus starts moving can be very hard.

I also think the quote from the article above seems to be making religous people look like freaks. Pleanty of people say “no” and plan to wait who have no religious affiliation. I have helped out with a friend who did an after school program to teach abstinence and they were asked to sign a pledge to wait. This program did not have a religious affiliation. As a matter of fact, when working with the group, my friend was not able to talk about God at all, due to the source of her funding.

To keep kids from engaging in sex once they made a pledge to wait, we need to teach them how to stay off the bus.

Filed under: Modesty, Social CommentaryTagged with: ,